Quote Originally Posted by Ouch! View Post
Based on many of the little things that pop up in Final Fantasy XII (most notably many of the bestiary entries), it became apparent to me that the Ivalice of FFXII had far more development and backstory than any other Final Fantasy world today. The potential was all there, and I honestly believe that the development team wanted to make the most of it.

The result, however, was a watered-down version of Final Fantasy Tactic's plot. Tactics has, perhaps, the best plot of any video game I've ever played. Similarly to FFXII, Tactics sported a plot revolving entirely around medieval politics. The main difference is that Tactics doesn't have a number tacked on it. I think that the XII in the title severely limited the complexity of FFXII's story.

It's actually rather disappointing, because it's obvious that FFXII's plot could have been absolutely fantastic. The mediocre story isn't because the team lacked creativity and the ability to make something complex and intriguing, it's because if the plot was anywhere near as involved as it should have been, the result would have been the same as Final Fantasy Tactics--a game you have to follow very, very closely to understand what the hell is going on. Based on how many people absolutely hate Tactics for that reason, dumbing down the plot of FFXII was merely a marketing move.

That's how I feel about it, anyway.
You know, I have seriously debated this. Though I feel XII's plot is better than a lot of the numbered FFs I don't feel like it lived up to Matsuo's normal storytelling level. Both Tactics and Vagrant Story tell incredibly complex stories but TA and XII have both always given me the impression they were dumbed down.

I can't say for sure though. Usually the plot is completely written up before production and we know Matsuo left mid developement (the game was in playable form) so we can assume the plot is the way it's suppose to be. Perhaps, Squeenix asked him to make something more "user friendly" but this is pure specualtion. I guess we'll never know until the man shows up again. He has not made a public appearance since 04 if I remember correctly.